Duckworth said he called Leonard just a few days before the explosion to catch up. When he asked what he was up to, Leonard said he was looking online for a Ferrari.

"I said, 'How come?'" Duckworth said. "How can he afford a Ferrari?"

Leonard told him a sudden windfall was coming his way.

"He said the tsunami winds blew out the fireplace and the house blew up, and they were getting $300,000," Duckworth said.

Leonard also told him he and his then-girlfriend Monserrate Shirley were staying at an apartment in the meantime. When Duckworth called him back a few days later – still pre-explosion – Leonard said none of the tsunami stuff was true.

"I hadn't heard from him in a few days so I called him and asked him if he was still in that efficiency, and he said he'd made that all up, he was kidding," Duckworth said.

When he saw the news about the explosion, Duckworth said he texted a mutual friend that Leonard "made the news." He texted the same thing to Leonard himself the next morning – but their final phone conversation would end up being the last time he ever heard from Mark Leonard.

Four months later, Leonard was on the phone again – this time trying to arrange to have Duckworth killed.

"When we go back to this timeframe, were you and Mark Leonard friends?" Deputy Prosecutor Denise Robinson asked Duckworth.

"I thought we were," he said.

RTV6 will be in the courtroom throughout the trial. Court rules do not allow live coverage of the proceedings, but we will post a daily blog wrap up when breaks are allowed from proceedings.